Dating a Gum Thrower
by elimaria
Summary: Zutara. College AU. Katara invites Zuko back to the South Pole to meet her father.


They never liked each other when they were younger. It was as if there were some written passage that said they couldn't even be friends. It was just the way it was.

* * *

They were in college now, and dating. It was different, it didn't seem so much like elemental opposites, it was almost harmony now. They loved each other. And nothing could break that; nothing and no one at all.

They were on an airplane, flying back to the South Pole. Katara wanted her family to get to know Zuko. She was resting quietly; her head leaned back on the airplane's seat in the economy section. Zuko had offered to get them tickets to fly coach, but Katara had declined his generous offer as she didn't like the thought of being seen in a higher status than everyone else. She was never really that fond of the whole idea of being better than someone.

Zuko, on the other hand, had been anxious the whole drive to the airport. Now that they were in the plane, he was more tense than ever and couldn't stop his nervous jitters. He was pretty sure Hakoda remembered him. When they were younger, Zuko had sort of threw gum in Katara's hair and most of her long hair off had to be cut off. Zuko winced inwardly at the thought of Katara's father remembering that whole ordeal.

There were two other reasons he couldn't relax. One, a young child was kicking his seat insistently, while laughing uncontrollably. And two, was Sokka and the few times he had walked in on the both of them doing... things that he really didn't want Hakoda to know about. It was all just a giant mess and it had him on edge.

Sokka and his girlfriend, Toph, were already back at the South Pole, so it was just Katara and Zuko on the ride to the South Pole.

Zuko was bouncing his knees up and down when Katara put a hand on his knee. "Zuko, it's okay." She smiled up at him, "He's going to love you."

Zuko let out a deep breath. "Remember when I threw gum in your hair?" he asked nervously.

"Zuko," she groaned.

"No, listen, what if he remembers? You had to cut almost all of your hair off because of it. He's going to remember. He's not going to like me."

"Oh La, Zuko. It wasn't 'almost all of it'. It was probably one or two inches," she rolled her eyes and looked over at him, then squeezed his hand with a smile to reassure him. "That's irrelevant now. My dad probably won't even remember the gum thing. It wasn't that big of a deal."

Zuko sighed. The young boy behind him was still kicking his seat over and over again. It was definitely not the epitome of a massage chair. He got up from his seat and whipped around to face the child.

"Would you please stop kicking my seat?!" Zuko hissed, his golden eyes filled with annoyance. The boy started to cry and his mother shot Zuko a glare. _Great, now he was going to have to listen to a crying child the entire flight._ Zuko groaned, as he heard Katara giggling.

He turned to her and sent her an equally annoyed look, but Katara just rolled her eyes again and went back to resting her head against the seat. Unlike Zuko, she was able to ignore the fact that there was a screaming boy right behind them.

* * *

Hakoda met them at the airport. He was holding a sign that said, 'Katara (and Katara's boyfriend)'. _Of course,_ he thought, groaning inwardly and fighting the urge he felt to hold the bridge of his nose. Katara hadn't told Hakoda that she was dating Zuko.

Katara was overjoyed and ran to Hakoda., who hugged her close and smiled down at her. When Hakoda looked up at Zuko, his expression changed from happy to more of a curious look. . Zuko smiled nervously at Hakoda as he held both his and Katara's luggage. Hakoda nodded at him curtly before walking over.

"Hello, Gum Thrower," he held out his hand to Zuko. Zuko let out a groan that was not as silent as his previous ones. Hakoda gave him a grimace. Zuko quickly took his hand and shook it. He _knew_ Hakoda would remember the whole gum incident.

"Hello, sir," he said weakly. Hakoda smiled at him and then pulled him into a hug; his blue eyes smiling with him. He was genuinely happy to see Zuko.

As Zuko was pulled into the hug, he peered over to Katara. She was smiling at him warmly. "Told you," she mouthed. Zuko just rolled his eyes.

* * *

The ride back was uneventful. Katara sat up front, chatting and getting her father up to date with the latest events in her life. Zuko couldn't help but smile at his girlfriend, she was so lively when she talked. She was so beautiful.

Zuko was looking out the window, lost in his thoughts. Mostly thinking about all the times Sokka had caught the two of them making out in Zuko's dorm. The worst part of it all was that both Zuko and Katara were half-naked while they were in those steamy make-out sessions. The thought that Sokka had seen that and could easily tell Hakoda was the worst, but not as bad as other times.

The whole gum incident wasn't that great either. They were very young back then. Zuko was chewing his gum, minding his own business, when Katara told him to stop chewing with his mouth open. Apparently, back in Zuko's adolescent mind, that was a mortal insult. His temper back then wasn't that great either, so as Katara walked away, he had thrown his gum in her hair.

"We're here!" Hakoda announced.

Zuko was still thinking about all of this when Hakoda pulled up to their home. It was a small house; nice on the outside and the inside was cozy, too. Zuko and Sokka used to hang out sometimes back in high school, so he had been in there a few times. Back then he was with Mai, which was before she came out. Back in high school, he never really talked to Katara that much, but they were aware of each other's existence; though that was about it

* * *

It had been a few hours since they arrived at Sokka and Katara's childhood home. Zuko had finished getting his room set-up. Hakoda had insisted he stay in the guest bedroom, but Zuko noticed that he didn't mind that Sokka shared his room with Toph. But as long as he was on Hakoda's good side, Zuko didn't mind.

As Zuko finally zipped his bag up, he felt two hands on the his back. He turned around, smiling. Katara was looking up at him and she smiling back. She leaned up and kissed him, then whispered, "Hi."

"Hello," Zuko whispered back. He brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, pushing it back behind her ear, "You're so beautiful."

Katara blushed. "You're not so bad yourself, Sparky."

Zuko blushed back and kissed her, but only for a few seconds until they heard someone clear their throat in the doorway. Zuko instantly pulled back and stepped away from Katara, not realizing there wasn't any space between him and the bed. He fell on top of his suitcase and on the bed. Katara laughed, Hakoda just looked at them with a single eyebrow raised.

"Dinner is ready," Hakoda said slowly. He gave them one last side long glance and then walked out.

Katara helped Zuko up, giggling. "You're such a dork," she murmured. He rolled his eyes and kissed her quickly once again.

* * *

They all sat at the table quietly; Sokka and Toph next to each other, Zuko with Katara on opposite side, and Hakoda by himself at the head of the table. Hakoda made some sort of soup with some sea prunes. It didn't exactly taste bad, it just wasn't really Zuko's taste. But if his girlfriend liked it, he liked it.

"So… Zuko," Sokka smiled at him, "Remember the time I caught you and my sist—"

"Shut up, Sokka," Katara hissed as if she were already ready to pounce on him. Sokka gave her a wounded look while she glared daggers at him.

"I just wanted to reminisce on some good 'ol memories, Katara," Sokka whined.

"Don't talk to your brother like that, Katara," Hakoda mumbled absentmindedly.

 _This must be a regular thing for them_ , Zuko thought to himself and quietly kept eating, minding his own business.

"As I was saying," Sokka looked over to Zuko, "Zuko, remember when I walked in on you and my sister?" Katara kicked Sokka under the table, making him yelp and glare at her.

Hakoda glowered at the two of them and immediately they both stopped. Everyone ate in silence for a little while longer, until Hakoda broke the silence.

"Gum Thrower?" Zuko grimaced, trying to not groan aloud this time. "How long have you been seeing my daughter? I don't remember seeing you with Katara much when you guys were younger."

"Well, sir, Your daughter and I have been together for about a few months now. And I really like her. She's very wonderful. And I think, well, I do love her, she's just—"

"That's nice, Gum Thrower. What are your intentions with her then?"

"Dad," Katara hissed. "Stop it! And stop calling him 'Gum Thrower'. That was years ago."

Hakoda shrugged his shoulders and put his hands up in a mock surrender.

Zuko cleared his throat. "My intentions are to care for her and to love her, sir." Katara reached under the table and held Zuko's hand. "I love her very much."

"Really? Okay, then." Hakoda nodded. "I approve."

Sokka looked back from Hakoda to Zuko. "Wait, dad. You're not going to ask about how I walked in on them?"

"Sokka, I do not want to know. But thank you for informing me. Well," Hakoda stood up from the table, "I think I'm going to wash up and go to bed." He smiled at them and took his plate into the kitchen.

Katara kissed Zuko on the cheek, and then got up herself to take her dish into the kitchen.

Sokka kept giving Zuko a hard stare, making Zuko grimace. "What?"

"I'm watching you," Sokka made a gesture of pointing his fingers at his eyes and then pointing them at Zuko. Toph stomped on Sokka's foot.

"Hey!" Sokka protested. "That hurt!"

"That's the point. Stop it." Toph said taking her dish into the kitchen.

* * *

That night, Zuko laid in the bed in a half awake state of consciousness. He opened his golden eyes when he heard the door creak open. It was just Katara. "You're not supposed to be in here," he whispered.

"I don't care. I miss sleeping with you," she whispered back. Katara crawled into bed next to him, snuggling herself next to him under the covers. She put a hand over his bare chest and cuddled her head in the crook of his neck.

Zuko moved a hand to her hair, gently stroking it. He kissed the top of her head as they laid there; unmoving and silent, while the moonlight peeked through the blinds and onto the bed.

It was Katara who eventually broke the silence. "Did you mean it?" she whispered.

"Mean what?"

"That your intentions were to care and love me? Did you mean it?" Katara asked.

Zuko nodded and paused his strokes. A hand went underneath her chin and lifted her face up to his. "I meant every word I said tonight." He leaned down and kissed her, "I love you, 'Tara."

"I love you, too." She gave him a small grin, "Goodnight."

He smiled to himself, his hand going back in Katara's hair and stroking it softly. "Goodnight."


End file.
